I've been talking about a new build for a while now, and I've recently become fascinated with small form factor cases (this probably has something to do with being sick of the monster Antec tower I have now).

Assumptions:This is a full-time desktop replacement intended for gaming, ripping/transcoding DVDs and occasional movie watching.I leave the thing on basically 24/7.I don't need big storage as I have about 3TB on a server in the basement.I do plan to re-use my 320GB Sata 2(?) hard drive.I don't plan to overclock.I plan to re-use my HD6870 so I don't need a new video card.I'm not in a big hurry, earliest this happens is 11/1.Budget looks to be about $800 but there is more money for something compelling.

Goals:SSD for games and stuff I use frequently.Have enough case for 1 external 5.25 and 2 internal 3.5 bays (or 1 3.5 and 1 2.5). Don't need more.Upgrade to 4 cores to speed up those movie transcodes.Hyperthreading on top of that would be nice, but probably too expensive ($200 feels like a lot for a processor to me).Have a Blu-Ray player available as I don't yet have one.Small case that I can just sit on my desk rather than under it where dog hair and dust won't get sucked in.Sexy-looking case that will make people ask "what is that?"Quiet. As I get older I'm more sensitive to fan noise I've found, and my current box screams under load.

Questions and Discussion Items:I'm not married to any of the parts, so I'm open to alternatives. Particularly power as I've not kept up with good manufacturers. I do leave the thing on basically 24/7 so right-sized and efficient power is important to me. Given the small case, a modular supply seems wise.Motherboard says it supports DDR3-1600, will it auto-detect that or do I need to fiddle?I read I can remove the lower drive tray in the PC-Q08B, and that should give me enough length to fit the card?I haven't built an Intel rig since Core2Duos were new hotness, and their model number system makes no sense to me, so I particularly want to make sure I'm not doing something stupid like getting a model that can't do AES

Regarding the PSU, i would get something with more wattage, i'd say you,re cutting it a bit close with 400W. Granted, i like to oversize things a bit, but i'd go for a decent 500W unit, maybe an Antec HCG-520M. I used it in a core i5-2500/HD6870 rig for my brother in law and it's been holding up very well in intensive gaming and it has some headroom so it should last a long time even taking into account aging.

For the PSU manufacturers, seasonic is expensive, but you can't go wrong with them, Antec and Corsair also have pretty decent units. The silverstone strider series is also pretty decent, the XFX Core as well, but those aren't modular. The one you linked looks decent as well.

EDIT: I would check what is the cause of the fan noise, some video cards have a high noise output.

I'm pretty sure the noise I'm hearing is actually the CPU and the umpteen 80mm case fans this thing has. The 6850 is actually much quieter than the 7900 I had in there before... I could pretty clearly hear that old dude spin up when I started playing something, and that was back before I re-arranged things to hide cables and moved the case a bit closer to where I sit -- which has of course made things even louder.

I'm pretty sure the noise I'm hearing is actually the CPU and the umpteen 80mm case fans this thing has. The 6850 is actually much quieter than the 7900 I had in there before... I could pretty clearly hear that old dude spin up when I started playing something, and that was back before I re-arranged things to hide cables and moved the case a bit closer to where I sit -- which has of course made things even louder.

You should be able to fit something like a coolermaster Hyper 101i or Hyper TX3 with a PWM fan in the PC-Q08B, that should take care of the noise compared to the stock Intel cooler which to be honest haven't been very good for the last few generations of CPUs.

Regarding the PSU, i would get something with more wattage, i'd say you,re cutting it a bit close with 400W.

400W is cutting it close for Ivy Bridge and a single 6850? The i5-3550 has a TDP of 77W, and the 6850 draws under 120W peak. That's under 200W running flat out for the only components drawing anything significant. 200W is also pretty much the peak efficiency point for a 400W power supply. In other words, please stop encouraging people to buy bigger power supplies than they will ever use.

badfrog: Your 6850 may still end up being the loudest part of the new machine, since everything else is getting quieter.

Are you sold on mini-ITX? It is small, but that means it is harder to work with, and typically runs hotter (and thus louder) than microATX.

You may want to look into a (relatively) inexpensive aftermarket CPU cooler like the Coolermaster Hyper 212+, if it fits your chosen case. The stock Intel coolers aren't known for being really low noise.

400W is cutting it close for Ivy Bridge and a single 6850? The i5-3550 has a TDP of 77W, and the 6850 draws under 120W peak. That's under 200W running flat out for the only components drawing anything significant. 200W is also pretty much the peak efficiency point for a 400W power supply. In other words, please stop encouraging people to buy bigger power supplies than they will ever use.

Card is actually a 6870, and a pox on AMD for not listing anything beyond "series" anywhere in device info for an installed device. Had to actually go pull the invoice since I trashed the box it came in. I'll edit the OP, does that change the power envelope any?

cogwheel wrote:

badfrog: Your 6850 may still end up being the loudest part of the new machine, since everything else is getting quieter.[...]You may want to look into a (relatively) inexpensive aftermarket CPU cooler like the Coolermaster Hyper 212+, if it fits your chosen case. The stock Intel coolers aren't known for being really low noise.

I'm prepared for that, and if it becomes a problem I'll swap one or both for something quieter down the road. I've got 2 HTPC's that could reasonably use that video card to become competent gamers, so I can justify that part of it at least .

cogwheel wrote:

Are you sold on mini-ITX? It is small, but that means it is harder to work with, and typically runs hotter (and thus louder) than microATX.

I actually started out looking at microATX builds, but didn't really find any cases I liked in that size, and when I priced everything out there didn't seem to be a big difference. The PC-Q08B has dual largish fans (140 front and 120 top IIRC) which I figured would be more than adequate for cooling, and I'm not planning to exactly cram the thing full of drives.

Edit to say I've built many a PC, including some absolute puzzle-box cases from nMediaPC and Silverstone, so I'm not concerned about challenge level in getting everything installed really.

If i had to recommend a microATX case, it would be the silverstone Temjin TJ-08. Not the easiest to work with, but it keeps things relatively cool with a decent noise output. You could also go with a precision PS-07.

AMD recommends 500W for the 6800 series, but they assume a crappy PSU. 400W will cut it if it's a good unit. To quote myself in regards to the 500W

Quote:

Granted, i like to oversize things a bit

so i personally wouldn't go for a 400W, but the one you linked will get the job done.

The 840 Pro's are not out until Oct. 23rd. If the OP's waiting until 11/1 to start, it's better to wait for those.You get faster Random Writes and a longer warranty than the plain 840, though there will be a small price premium for it.I'm also wondering about the size differences between the two; the 840 capacities are 12, 250 and 500GB, while the 840 Pro's are the more familiar 128, 256, and 512GB.

...I'm also wondering about the size differences between the two; the 840 capacities are 12, 250 and 500GB, while the 840 Pro's are the more familiar 128, 256, and 512GB.

The drives have different chip topologies. The Samsung SSD 840 uses Samsung's 21nm 3-bit-per-cell MLC (aka TLC) NAND. While the Pro uses Samsung's 21nm 2bpc MLC NAND. I also assume the reserve is different for both.

NB with most mITX cases you will have a grille over the GPU cooler, this is necessary to achieve decent cooling but is a definite compromise on noise. The FT03 avoids this by using a rotated vertical wind tunnel design. It'll certainly prompt some questions!

Keep in mind those numbers are at the wall (AC wattage, not what the power supply is actually supplying), and for the entire system. The power supply used in their test setup is only rated as plain 80PLUS, nothing higher, and is 1000W. At 247W from the wall, it's not running in the fattest part of the efficiency curve, so the best we can probably assume is 80% efficiency. That leaves us at ~198W for the entire system being pulled from the power supply, which includes a i7-965. A 77W TDP Ivy Bridge processor will draw less than a 130W TDP Bloomfield processor, so it's highly likely that you'll stay under 200W draw at all times with the new system.

Like tijo says, the videocard suppliers assume you're buying a really shitty power supply that will be lucky to actually hit the rated wattage at all and not self destruct, not an actual quality one that can push out the rated wattage at 40C intake temp, while staying well within the ATX standard limits, for days on end.

Personally, I don't like PCP&C these days, since they're owned by OCZ. They seem to specify decent power supplies, though, so I doubt it'll be a problem for you. I'd also look at stuff like Seasonic's range as well.

Yeah I did finally look closer at that link and figured out they were reading those at the wall

I saw both of those cases as well I seem to remember the FT03 needed a slim optical drive to work with that slit opening, which is what I think turned me off on it. Otherwise it does look like a really neat case. There are lots of people complaining about the BitFenix build quality recently on NewEgg, too.

I picked up the Asrock H77, which I think is like $10-15 cheaper than the Asus. It's been pretty good so far. I also got the fanless seasonic 460W (more connectors than the 400W, same price), but that is twice the price of the PC Power and Cooling. But, yeah, fanless!

So ~$755 + $30 or so for shipping I think, which leaves me with some money left over in the budget to source some extra miscellany here locally if that's needed. I'm particularly pleased with the deal on the CPU and the free ram.

Everything's trickling in over multiple shipments which kinda sucks, but I'll post some build pics when I get it all here and together.

I'm skeptical about putting that fanless PSU in that case. It's passive heat venting open top will either be facing down into the heated plenum (w/ hot air rising into it) or upward into the solid case top.

I'm skeptical about putting that fanless PSU in that case. It's passive heat venting open top will either be facing down into the heated plenum (w/ hot air rising into it) or upward into the solid case top.

steelghost wrote:

I'm guessing the PSU is one of the X-series semi-fanless, ie it runs passive but only up to a certain load level?

Funnily enough I didn't think of that when I ordered it, but looking at the case earlier today I decided that might be a possible issue myself. I am planning to max out the fans in the case (120mm front and side with 92mm back IIRC) for what that's worth, but with the PS at the top of the case I agree that it may be problematic.

Still waiting for the power supply, but I couldn't resist putting it all together last night with an extra PS I had sitting in my parts closet. Took some pics I'll post later along with the final build with links to the egg for posterity.

Observations:Holy shit this thing is fast. It's literally hit the power button, count to ten and login, and then BAM your desktop is there. I haven't done any formal benchmarks but it hit 7.7 on the windows experience thingie, and it did full 2-pass x264 compression of a DVD in about 45 minutes last night. That would have taken my old rig a couple of hours. I seriously cannot remember being this impressed with speed since I got my first 486 back in the day.

The loud fan noise I was hearing in my old rig was from the video card. As soon as I installed the video drivers after slotting it in the new build I heard it start up. Is it worth messing with trying to replace a video card fan?

I'm sort of mulling over a hypothetical build - would a Silverstone Ft03-mini, SG05/6 or SG07/8 house a GTX670/i5-3570/H or Z77 running stock with a reasonable amount of quietness/minimal fan noise? Or would that be pushing luck? The SG05/6 and the SG07/8 all seem to have more vents than the FT03- mini...

I'm sort of mulling over a hypothetical build - would a Silverstone Ft03-mini, SG05/6 or SG07/8 house a GTX670/i5-3570/H or Z77 running stock with a reasonable amount of quietness/minimal fan noise? Or would that be pushing luck? The SG05/6 and the SG07/8 all seem to have more vents than the FT03- mini...

The mini is basically just a wind tunnel with that huge fan at the bottom. There's at least one reviewer on newegg talking about having an i7-3770 in there with a 680, so I'd imagine it's possible.

It is a gorgeous case, I just couldn't give up a full-size optical drive.

...The loud fan noise I was hearing in my old rig was from the video card. As soon as I installed the video drivers after slotting it in the new build I heard it start up. Is it worth messing with trying to replace a video card fan?

I've never found it to be worth it.

If your GPU is two years or close to two years old, throw it away and buy new. Just buy one that is reviewed to have quiet fannage.

I can agree with the post above. You can get some pretty quiet video cards. The Asus DirectCU II is an example of a very quiet cooler. Unless you like to play with your video bios the fact that a DirectCU II card has a non reference design PCB most of the time won't be a problem. My GTX570 DCU II is whisper quiet in my Antec p183 case. Look for reviews of video cards and check for comments on the noise. So far one of the worse video card i've seen noise wise was a HD6870 from XFX.

EDIT: Just be careful, non reference coolers can be big, that is the main drawback of mine, it's a 3 slot thick monster that barely fits in my case.